GENERAL MOVIE NEWS

General movie news courtesy of Movie Muser (www.moviemuser.co.uk)

Seth Rogen In Talks To Play Steve Wozniak In Steve Jobs Biopic

October 31, 2014 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

It’s taken far longer than anyone expected to get the Steve Job biopic that Aaron Sorkin is writing ready to go, but now it seems to be finally moving forward, with Christian Bale signing on the star last week. Now he’s got a co-star, with TheWrap reporting that Seth Rogen is in talks to play Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak.

The film is based on Walter Isaacson’s biography of Jobs, which was written after extensive interviews with the Apple head honcho and those around him. The film version will be split into three parts, centred around the keynote speeches made when he announced three iconic Apple products, the Mac, NeXT and the original iPod.

It’s believed that around this is will be able to tell the story of the founding on Apple and Jobs’ tumultuous journey. Wozniak co-founded Apple, and is credited with launching the Apple I and Apple II personal computers in the late 1970s.

Danny Boyle is set to direct although it’s not clear when it will shoot.

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ACTORS: Seth Rogen, Christian Bale DIRECTORS: Danny Boyle FILMS: Steve Jobs Biopic

Final The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 Trailer – Back into the world of Katniss and the Capitol

October 29, 2014 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

In less than a month The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 is due to hit cinemas and there’s little doubt it’ll be a big hit. However as it marks a change for the franchise, so Lionsgate are keen to ensure fans are kept excited.

Now the final trailer has arrived, which may be fairly short but does a great job of setting up the drama and suggesting that now the whole of Panem is the arena.

Here’s the synopsis: ‘The worldwide phenomenon of The Hunger Games continues to set the world on fire with The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1, which finds Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) in District 13 after she literally shatters the games forever. Under the leadership of President Coin (Julianne Moore) and the advice of her trusted friends, Katniss spreads her wings as she fights to save Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) and a nation moved by her courage. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 is directed by Francis Lawrence from a screenplay by Danny Strong and Peter Craig and produced by Nina Jacobson’s Color Force in tandem with producer Jon Kilik. The novel on which the film is based is the third in a trilogy written by Suzanne Collins that has over 65 million copies in print in the U.S. alone.’

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 is due out in the UK on November 20th, 2014, with the final film (until an inevitable further sequel or spin-off is announced), The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2, out the same time the following year. [Read more…]

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ACTORS: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Julianne Moore DIRECTORS: Francis Lawrence FILMS: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1

First Pics Of Simon Pegg & Kate Beckinsale In Absolutely Anything

October 29, 2014 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

Absolutely-Anything-pic1 There’s unsurprisingly a lot of interest in Absolutely Anything, which reunites the voices of Monty Python stars John Cleese, Terry Jones, Michael Palin & Terry Gilliam, with the late Robin Williams voicing a dog called Dennis (although there has been some speculation over whether he’d completed the role before his death).

Now Empire has debuted the first image which gives us a look at Simon Pegg and Kate Beckinsale, who’ll be more than just voices in the movie, along with Terry Jones where he’s busy directing.

Pegg plays Neil Clarke, a disillusioned school teacher who gets magical powers, which are bestowed upon him by aliens (voiced by the former Pythons).

Jones expands on that to Empire, saying “It’s about a man called Neil, a teacher in a sink secondary school, who gets given magic powers by aliens. He can make anything happen, [but] he doesn’t realise it until his colleague says, ‘What would you do if you could do anything?’ and Neil responds with, ‘I’d make an alien spaceship hit class 4C and vaporise them.’ Then there’s an explosion in the school, and they run to 4C’s classroom, open the door and there’s a vast hole in the ground.”

A February UK release date is set. [Read more…]

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ACTORS: Simon Pegg, Kate Beckinsale DIRECTORS: Terry Jones FILMS: Absolutely Anything

First Look At Jai Courtney, Matt Smith & Emilia Clarke In Terminator: Genisys

October 29, 2014 By Tim Isaac 1 Comment

Next year Terminator: Genisys is hoping to be one of the year’s big blockbusters, rebooting and renovating the franchise with the hope that more sequels will flow in the coming years. There’s already controversy though, with reports the movie will use time travel trickery to allow the series to completely start over (Star Trek style).

And now we get to take out first look with the new Entertainment Weekly covers above and below.

EW also adds some more plot info, saying the film, ‘is set in 2029, when the Future War is raging and a group of human rebels has the evil artificial-intelligence system Skynet on the ropes. John Connor (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes’ Jason Clarke) is the leader of the resistance, and Kyle Reese (Divergent‘s Jai Courtney) is his loyal soldier, raised in the ruins of post apocalyptic California. As in the original film, Connor sends Reese back to 1984 to save Connor’s mother, Sarah (Game of Thrones‘ Emilia Clarke), from a Terminator programmed to kill her so that she won’t ever give birth to John. But what Reese finds on the other side is nothing like he expected.’

Although that sounds pretty much like the original, things have changed as in this version Sarah Connor ‘was orphaned by a Terminator at age 9. Since then, she’s been raised by (brace yourself) Schwarzenegger’s Terminator—an older T-800 she calls “Pops”—who is programmed to guard rather than to kill. As a result, Sarah is a highly trained antisocial recluse who’s great with a sniper rifle but not so skilled at the nuances of human emotion.’

The movie is due out July 2015.

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ACTORS: Jai Courtney, Matt Smith, Emilia Clarke, Jason Clarke DIRECTORS: Alan Taylor FILMS: Terminator Genisys

Jason Bateman Set To Direct And Star In IPO Man

October 29, 2014 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

Following Bad Words and the upcoming The Family Fang, it seems Jason Bateman has really been bitten by the directing bug, as he’s now signed up the direct and star in IPO Man.

Deadline reports he’s up for the film, which is based on a Wired articles called ‘Meet The Man Who Sold His Fate To Investors At $1 A Share’. And that’s a very literal description, as Mike Merrill (to be played by Bateman) did indeed decide to offer stocks in his own life. He offered 100,000 shares at $1 a pop, and managed to sell 928 of them, with investors being allowed to vote on his decisions, such as whether to invest $79.63 in a Rwandan chicken farmer.

Unsurprisingly it caused problems ‘when shareholders demanded control over life decisions like whether to have a vasectomy or even whether he should move in with his longtime girlfriend (and minority shareholder)’. Even at the time the article was written, Merrill was still allowing investors a say in his life, most particularly the future of his love life.

Transparent writers Micah Fitzerman-Blue & Noah Harpster will write the script. It’s not clear when the movie might shoot.

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ACTORS: Jason Bateman

New Paddington Trailer – Now with Ben Whishaw voicing the Peruvian bear

October 28, 2014 By Tim Isaac 1 Comment

Last summer there was surprise when after Colin Firth had been due to voice Paddington in the live-action/CGI movie about famous bear, he stepped out and Ben Whishaw came in. It means that while we’ve had trailer and teasers, were haven’t heard from Paddington himself – until now, that is.

You can take a look at the new trailer below, complete with added Whishaw, alongside Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, Julie Walters, Peter Capaldi, Jim Broadbent and Nicole Kidman.

Here’s the synopsis: ‘From the producer of Harry Potter and Gravity, Paddington comes to the big screen for the first time in an epic new adventure. Featuring an all-star cast and effects courtesy of award-winning VFX company Framestore, PADDINGTON is THE big family film of Christmas.

‘Voted Best Animated Character at the 2012 British Animation Awards, and adapted from Michael Bond’s beloved books, Paddington follows the comic misadventures of a polite young bear with an endearing talent for comic chaos.

‘Paddington has grown up deep in the Peruvian jungle with his Aunt Lucy who, inspired by a chance encounter with an English explorer, has raised her nephew to dream of an exciting life in London. When an earthquake destroys their home, Aunt Lucy decides to smuggle her young nephew on board a boat bound for England, in search of a better life. Arriving alone at Paddington Station, Paddington soon finds that city life is not all he had imagined – until he meets the kindly Brown family, who find him with a label tied around his neck which reads ‘Please look after this bear. Thank you.’ They offer him a temporary home whilst he searches for the explorer who impressed Aunt Lucy all those years before.

‘But when Paddington catches the eye of a sinister, seductive taxidermist, it isn’t long before his home – and very existence – is under threat …’

The film is due out in the UK November 28th, 2014, with a mid-January US release planned. [Read more…]

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ACTORS: Ben Whishaw, Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, Julie Walters, Peter Capaldi, Jim Broadbent, Nicole Kidman DIRECTORS: Paul King FILMS: Paddington

Keanu Reeves Heads Into Sci-Fi Thriller Replicas From Finding North Director

October 28, 2014 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

While John Wick outperformed some expectations on its US release last weekend, Keanu Reeves could still do with a real hit, as he hasn’t had a proper one since the final Matrix movie. Now he’s heading back to the world of sci-fi thrillers as Variety reports he’ll star in Replicas.

Tanya Wexler – who started her directing career with the great 1998 gay-themed film Finding North – will helm the movie, which will see Reeves as ‘a neuroscientist whose family is killed in a traffic accident and will stop at nothing to bring them back — pitting himself against a government-controlled laboratory, a police task force and the physical laws of science.’

That’s a pretty enigmatic premise, but it is rather intriguing.

The film will be looking for buyers at the American Film Market, with plans to shoot the movie next spring.

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ACTORS: Keanu Reeves DIRECTORS: Tanya Wexler

Chadwick Boseman Will Be Black Panther Is Just One Part Of Marvel’s Massive Announcements

October 28, 2014 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

It’s been a big day for Marvel movie fans, with the studio making a whole load of major announcements, including new films, the full titles of some movies we knew were coming, as well as a major pieces of casting. Starting with the last thing first, Marvel revealed not only that the long gestating Black Panther movie will be released on November 3rd, 2017, but Chadwick Boseman will play the role.

The reason the role has already been cast is largely because that won’t be the first time we see him, as he will play a large part in Captain America 3. But of course it won’t be called Captain America 3, it will be Captain America: Civil War, as Marvel has now confirmed.

That would be enough news for most companies but Marvel decided to really let it all out, as they also revealed that the third Thor movie will be Thor: Ragnarok, and that we’ll also be getting an Inhumans movie and a Captain Marvel film in 2018. Indeed from 2017 the slate is getting so packed that the company will be releasing three films a year instead of two.

And just to top it all off, we now know that Avengers 3 is getting split in two, with Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 coming May 2018 and Part II May 2019.

It’s certainly a hell of a lot to digest all at once, including confirmation that not only will Marvel get its first film led by a black superhero – Black Panther – but we’ll also have the first female-led one. Previous Captain Marvel rumours have assumed that it would be about the original incarnation, who was the fully grown superhero incarnation of a youngster Billy Batson.

However the film will follow the Carol Danvers version, who has been Captain Marvel since 2012 (and was Ms. Marvel before that). Many had expected Black Widow to be the first female Marvel character to get her own movie, but it turns out we’ll have to wait for that and watch Captain Marvel first.

Take a look at a rundown of all the newly confirmed release dates and titles, along with some of the freshly revealed logos: [Read more…]

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Benedict Cumberbatch Will Be Marvel’s Doctor Strange

October 27, 2014 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

Back in June it was rumoured that Benedict Cumberbatch was one of the frontrunners for the title role in Marvel’s Doctor Strange. However since then talk of him for the part have been supplanted by a long list of other actors from Ryan Gosling to Ethan Hawke to Jake Gyllenhaal to Jared Leto.

However now Benedict has leapfrogged them all and bagged the role, as he is officially in talks for the role, with most expecting him to sign on shortly. It’s believed that previously there were difficulties with Cumberbatch’s schedule, but now that Marvel has pushed back the shoot a little, it’s easier for him to squeeze the film in.

Doctor Strange is a former neurosurgeon, a practicing sorcerer, and serves as the Sorcerer Supreme, the primary protector of Earth against magical and mystical threats.

Scott Derrickson is set to direct the movie, with a July 8th, 2016 release date set.

While Cumberbatch fans will no doubt be happy, it will also have them wondering whether this makes more episodes of Sherlock less likely.

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ACTORS: Benedict Cumberbatch DIRECTORS: Scott Derrickson FILMS: Doctor Strange

Spielberg’s BFG Gets Its Giant In The Form Of The Acclaimed Mark Rylance

October 27, 2014 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

There are few actors in the world as respected as Mark Rylance, but due to the fact he’s mainly been acclaimed on the stage – winning three Tony Awards and two Olivier Awards in the process – there are still plenty of people who have no idea what he looks like. Now though he’s taken a huge role in a major movie, although it’s still to be seen whether he’ll properly look like himself or get covered in CG.

Deadline reports he’s set to play the giant in Steven Spielberg’s upcoming movie version of Roald Dahl’s classic The BFG (Big Friendly Giant). The book concerns a young girl, the Queen of England and a benevolent giant known as the BFG. The three set out on an adventure to capture the evil, man-eating giants who have been invading the human world. There have been suggestions the film will somewhat change the story but the core will remain the same.

Spielberg comments, “As I witnessed on stage, Mark Rylance is a transformational actor. I am excited and thrilled that Mark will be making this journey with us to Giant Country. Everything about his career so far is about making the courageous choice and I’m honored he has chosen The BFG as his next big screen performance.”

Dahl’s grandson, Luke Kelly, adds, “We are ecstatic at this choice. Mark is incredibly talented, one of the great British actors working today. I’ve had the privilege of seeing Mark perform, and the thought of watching him transform into ‘the only nice and jumbly Giant in Giant Country’ is, as The BFG himself might say, absolutely phizz-whizzing.”

Rylance already has a role in Spielberg’s upcoming Untitled Cold War Thriller, which stars Tom Hanks. The BFG shoots next year with a July 1st, 2016 release date set.

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ACTORS: Mark Rylance DIRECTORS: Steven Spielberg FILMS: The BFG